Enotes

It won't be too much longer, I would imagine, before we find out what happened to Jane Bashara, along with the how and the why. The Grosse Pointe marketing executive whose body was found in her vehicle miles from her home has been dominating local news since she was strangled (police say) last week. Today, investigators shared some more of their theories. Bashara was likely killed in her home, investigators say. And, the killer likely had an accomplice. More details keep seeping out--- like the little one about husband Bob Bashara having a girlfriend, and that he was reportedly trying to buy said girlfriend a house . And the whispers that the Basharas' marriage was "on the rocks." And that Bob Bashara failed a polygraph test, according to sources. And that his account of where he was the day/night of his wife's apparent murder doesn't jibe with what police believe happened. And that Bob Bashara's business owed more than $10,000 in back taxes. So you can se...

OK, it's getting ridiculous now, the range of actress Glenn Close. Is there any character that she can't, or won't, play? Not satisfied with playing a wide range of women, Close is now branching out to the other gender---sort of. Close is now dazzling us in "Albert Nobbs," where she plays the title character: an attendant in a well-appointed 19th-Century Dublin hotel. The work has earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. But there's more to it. Nobbs is a woman disguised as a man. Yes, "Victor/Victoria" comes to mind, though "Nobbs" is no comedic farce. The idea of one gender pretending to be another for some sort of personal gain isn't new, of course. Flat out comedies like "Some Like it Hot" to reflective films like "Yentl" have used the device. But "Nobbs" is different. It's based on a short story by an Irish novelist, and according to a story in today's Free Press has been a passion of ...

Lesley Visser, the statuesque, longtime correspondent for CBS Sports, was on my TV screen last weekend. And I barely recognized her. She had that "look" about her. The one that has, more and more, vexed both male and female celebrities---though more female than male. The "look" is what we'll refer to here as "the Joan Rivers Syndrome." You know---plastic surgery gone wild. WHY are so many people in the entertainment industry who appear on stage or in front of the camera allowing butchers to take to their face? The results aren't pretty---literally. Lesley Visser, I thought, was an attractive woman in her 50s who was aging quite well---and naturally. Yes, she had a jogging accident in 2006 which required some surgery to her face, but what I saw last weekend as she did some pre-game NFL playoff work, was above and beyond the call of duty, so to speak. She's hardly alone. Even Marie Osmond---yes, Kewpie doll-cute Marie Osmond---looks to have gone ...

Whatever happened to Mr. Belvedere? Or Marilyn Turner, hawking Carpet Center? How about Bob Allison for Bobson Construction? Remember Mel Farr and his cape, "flying" through the skies over Metro Detroit, promising a "Farr better deal" on Ford cars? Or the Metro Detroit Ford Dealers commercials, which always featured sports celebrities, including all the Detroit sports team coaches at one time or another? I'm still wondering if anyone got five pounds of free coffee from Ollie Fretter for finding a deal that he couldn't beat. I can still see the homely face of Irving Nussbaum of New York Carpet World, with his tag line, "The BETTER carpet people!" The company pitchman, in Detroit, has often been more well-known than the product being sold. I should know; I work for one. Brian Elias, my boss at 1-800-HANSONS , is one of the last of a dying breed, along with Gordie over at ABC Warehouse. Elias and Gordie are among the last of the combination company ow...

Since when does being a member of a studio audience entitle one to be showered with gifts? Shows all over the dial, from "The View" to "Dr. Phil" to "Ellen," are treating their audiences like they're all Queens for a Day. It's gotten out of hand, all the gift-giving. It started several years ago with every member of the audience getting a copy of whatever book or DVD was being hawked that day. Then it morphed, to where we are now, where audiences leave with so much loot that they'll need to hire another tax guy. It's not just books and DVDs anymore; audiences are now receiving small appliances, electronic gadgets, and even all-expenses paid trips. To which, of course, are met with screams and wildness, which I can also do without. And here's the rub---audiences for talk shows don't pay admission. Not one penny. Yet they leave like thieves. Tickets are always free, and used to be gobbled up by tourists and vacationers, because the sh...

Detroit, once upon a time, was a bustling, thriving city---an international port with industry coming out of its ears. They made cars in Detroit, and better than anyone else. But Detroit also was a huge component to the WWII effort---building tanks and other items of importance. It was a riverfront city with a brand new convention complex (Cobo) built by 1960 and was even considered as a host city for the Olympics. President Kennedy, no less, appeared on film, making the case for Detroit to host the Games, which was shown to the selection committee. Detroit had well over a million people living within its boundaries. It was a media market that was just a notch below the New Yorks and LAs of the country. It wasn't unusual for Detroit on-air talent to vamoose to New York, with no stops in between. But now? Detroit is crumbling. Its infrastructure is a joke. The money is gone. It's a city that can't adequately protect its citizens, pick up the trash on time, or change a busted...